Have you gone wireless only?

I have a wireless phone as well as a VOIP line, which is sort of like a landline in that it uses a phone with a phone line but works through the internet. It's the only option my building has for a provider as they have signed a contract with that company and I can't get any carrier I want because of that so I am stuck not having a "true" landline. I am not sure if this would help in identifying my location by 911 in case of an emergency (hopefully it does!) but at least it's a back-up in case my cell is stolen or has died.

i dopped my landline because of the cost effectiveness.. i wont ever go back. i never realized that just having my cell helps in every other area other then 911. if any of my kids get sick at school.. or have any problems, they can reach me at any time. it has been invaluable! i really hope they fix the situation with the 911 centers being behind in the times. i think its time to keep moving with technology

The idea of dropping your landline for cost reasons is a good one but in a emergency or disaster the cell phone is often not available or too busy handling other callers.

As a First Responder in a rural area, cell phones are written off for communications due being jammed with other callers or just not there. Not all cell towers are backed up with batteries or UPS's systems but a landline is always there and always works. We are now using Amateur Radio for our hospitals for emergency communications as ham radio always works across town or around the world when needed.

We've been wireless for over 5 years. We're never home and it was a waste of money to have a land line until now. Unaware about the issue with 911. They need to fix that. Public safety should keep up with the times. Land line providers should have a 911 only service under the circumstances. I will get a very, very basic service. Our elderly parents stay with us often. They use their cell phones when the visit, but have land lines @ home.

Phone companies used to leave landlines connected, but disabled when your service was terminated (soft dial-tone). This allowed for users to call 911 and to contact the phone company to setup new service. It appears that many of them have stopped using soft dial-tone.

Even without E911, cell phones are plagued by other problems (poor signal, tower access, battery life, etc) that landlines do not experience. Having multiple ways to signal for help, when needed, is beneficial, but it's rare that individuals need to summon emergency assistance and the costs of maintaining a landline for the very rare occasion where it may be beneficial doesn't seem to -- for most people -- outweigh the monthly service cost of traditional landline.

The trend is away from landlines and toward cell phones and it has been demonstrated that most individuals are not going to keep a landline just for 911 access. End-to-end 911 service needs to be upgraded to better serve the community's needs.

The main problem is there are limited funds available to counties for updating their technology at 911 dispatch centers as fast as itechnology is developed. Especially in the rural areas where county funds are limited. Not all areas have tax reveunue that can be spared to spend on upgrading technology of the 911 dispatch centers. I would agree they should but that is not reality.

I have fired ATT ( A Terrible Telephone) a long time ago. Even my security system is cell phone ( a pro thief will cut the land lines before starting the crime). My complaint is with the cities and counties that do not use the fees for the 911 system that is charged on my cellphone bill to upgrade to GPS technology. The public administrators should be sued for the missuse of this money! A the minimum, the money to upgrade the 911 system should come from some other city waste!

I dropped my landline four years ago primarily for cost reasons. Because I am away or outside of my home more often than not, cell phone service only made more sense. Because my cell is my primary communication tool, I keep it well charged and with me 24/7 in case of emergency. I also replace it every 2-3 years because of technology changes. (I don't need an expensive "smart" phone, just one that works well.)

After reading this article, I looked closely at my latest Verizon Wireless bill and saw a small fee (99 cents) for E911. I called VW for more information and found that it was a local tax that helps pay for my county's service. I then checked my area's 911 service level; it has the latest phone technology in place. My conclusion is that you get what you're willing to pay for.

Perhaps my experience might spur you to do the same thing. If your 911 service is lacking, please consider talking with your neighbors and local government officials about how to get it. The "they" who are supposed to pay for necessities is "us".

Each and every 911 center is run differently. Some centers use phone surcharges to pay dispatcher salaries. When they need to upgrade the system, the money is not there because it is being spent on something the local government should provide. Local government needed dispatchers BEFORE 911 came along but they saw 911 as a cash cow. Other centers do not pay dispatcher salaries and save money for upgrades. However, 911 centers cannot pay for upgrades with every new technology because of the cost. A small center upgrade cost anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000 depending on how much you want to get.

In rural areas cell phones do not work well, especially if the user does not know where they are and cannot provide enough information. AT&T chose to use triangulation location instead of handheld location. Triangulation is not effective in rural areas at all. Too few towers spread over a vast area with hills and trees blocking signals.

If you have questions about your 911 center, contact the business office (not 911) to ask questions about how your center is run. Some are ahead of the curve and offer alot more than this article gives credit for. Some may need a public outcry to jump start local government into action.

I have gone wireless a land line phone do me no good when I away from home Having a land line phone became a luxury this days.

Umm, how come the article did not mention that if your house was wired for phone service you can plug in a phone and call 911. Just like a cell phone that is 911 compliant doesn't have to be activated to call 911. That is why we pay extra fees so that anyone has access to 911 even if they don't pay for cell phone or landline service.

People need to stop complaining, when you call 911 know your location. I feel we are spoiled in today world because we expect everyone else to do everything for us. Most people have a real sense of entitlement, I hate it.

I went strictly cell almost 13 years ago. Have saved a lot of money. Upgrade every 2 years or so. Wife & I both carry extra batteries.

I would like to go completely wireless but when you have more than one wireless phone it is cost prohibitive. If I was charged one amount for my two cellphones that currently share airtime for unlimited usage I would definitely go wireless right now. Until costs come down I'll still keep my landline phone.

Yes, we went totally wireless because we accidently cut our land line & our local telephone provider wanted nearly $90 to give us an estimate for repair & the estimate would not apply to repair cost. We live in a rural area with no competition so we decided to go wireless. So far it has been a great decision for us.

@JC1212843- seriously? Sometimes people are calling 911 and they legitimately have no idea where they are calling from- whether it is on a land line or cell phone. If you've had your car hijacked and have been stuffed in the trunk and are calling on a cell phone, there is no way you can know exactly where you are. If you have been kidnapped, or drugged, or maybe just aren't 100% sure what the house number is of the party you have been dragged to by a friend... these are all examples of things that can happen where it really isn't a person's fault that they don't know exactly where they are. Try showing a little bit of compassion. Ideally, yes, a person would know exactly where they are when calling for help, but not all crimes play out that way.

Only 10-15 years ago almost nobody had cell phones so the very fact that most people have them now is a significant upgrade in case of an emergency. What makes no sense to me is that now it is today it is outrageous that 911 cannot tell exactly where someone is when they make a call with a cell phone, yet 15 years ago you would not even be able to make that very call and no one was complaining that the government had to give cell phone to everybody.

In regards to replacing you landline, shouldn't they be able to see where you live based on your cell phone bill by one simple call to your service provider?

Btw - I have no landline, but I feel safer because of it, since my cell phone it is always on me

Our land line service ends tomorrow. The only calls I was receiving were from non-profit groups who wouldn't take NO for an answer. Since the trend is toward cell phones, E911 is an important technology and every dispatch center in every rural area, town or city, should have it. In our area (but not the entire state), if your 911 cell phone call is routed through the State Police and if you stay on the phone with them for at least 30 seconds, they can pinpoint your location through an unscrambled GPS system and get pretty close to your location. The City and County are getting up to speed but don't have that particular ability yet although they can reroute your call to the SP. Rural areas and probably some big cities also need to make sure their address system works. Before E911, our County spent much time and money on a Rural Addressing system with the end result being that just about everyone can be located now. A 911 call won't help if emergency personnel don't have a physical address for you.

Sadly, I had an elderly friend who fell $79 behind on his landline bill and they shut off his phone. He was disabled, on oxygen and in a wheelchair. He had a pay as you go cell phone but I guess couldn't find it early one morning. A home health care provider found his body in his wheelchair when she went to his home around 10 AM. He was next to his landline phone that didn't work. My number was the secondary number that is required on many service agreements and a few weeks after his death they called me about his bill. I told them he was dead, wouldn't be paying the bill (I did pay to bury him because he had no family) and they were partly to blame. They said "sorry" but in my opinion that's not enough. Telephone companies should have to provide at least the ability to call 911 on a landline phone for emergencies regardless if someone can pay for it or not.. But until they do, my family will rely on our cell phones and pray that if we need help someone will be able to find us.

We are snowbirds who did not like having to pay for the landline when we were in a different state, or pay an installation fee each year in each location. We went to cells about three years ago, with each of us having a local number for one of the locations. It has worked well, and has saved a lot of money for two landlines, each of which was not in use part of the year.

Since both my wife and I are retired, we dropped our land line over a year ago. Since we both travel together over 90% of the time together, and if an emergency does come up, one of us knows the location. With a laptop and air card, we are never without internet access and also the hotels we do stay in are wireless anyway. I have chronic heart disease and because of this I have a "smart" phone with GPS access. Not only was it matter of additional cost to have a land line, we were not at home enough to justify the cost. Our kids text us anyway so why have a land line? Where we live between our 2 homes, both locations have E911 service.